If Thursday’s dramatic action proved anything, it’s that no lead is safe in the ACC this season. And while Duke, Florida State and North Carolina have separated themselves from the rest of the league in the standings, the difference between the top and bottom of the league isn’t as great.

That should make for an interesting weekend, especially one in which Clemson will try to do something that has never been done by beating the Tar Heels on their own home floor.

As we watch the unpredictability unfold, here are five questions to think aboutr:

1. Can N.C. State put Thursday’s disaster at Duke behind it and bounce back against FloridaState?

Can C.J. Leslie and the Wolfpack bounce back?

Squandering a 20-point lead against Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium could potentially be a crushing blow to the Wolfpack’s psyche and its still strong NCAA tournament hopes. But that doesn’t appear to have been the case, judging from the upbeat postgame reaction from State’s players Thursday. Forward Scott Wood said he and his teammates are determined not to let the Blue Devils beat them more than once and vowed that they’d be ready or today’s game against another ranked opponent. Coach Mark Gottfried’s team has already displayed an ability to put tough losses behind it and it should have plenty of incentive to play well. Beating the nation’s 19th ranked team, though not as emotionally satisfying as an upset of Duke would have been, would be just as valuable in helping the Wolfpack pad its postseason resume. As long as State’s big men stay out of foul trouble, look for another strong effort against an opponent that has shown a penchant for playing poorly on the road.

2. Will Clemson ever win a game in Chapel Hill?

Will today finally be the Tigers' day in Chapel Hill?

Nothing’s impossible. Eventually, someday, the law of averages will catch up with this series and the Tigers will finally end their 0-55 streak of futility at UNC. But it’s not going to happen today. As well as coach Brad Brownell’s team plays defense – ranking first in the ACC in turnover margin – it just doesn’t have the firepower to or the size to offset the Tar Heels’ potent frontcourt trio of Harrison Barnes, Tyler Zeller and John Henson. And don’t think that streak isn’t weighing heavily on Clemson’s players. While both coaches insist that they aren’t thinking about it, the player know full well what’s at stake – as Barnes expressed on Friday. “Beating a team 55 times, you have to have a greater awareness of what a win is going to mean to them,” he said. “You know they’re going to come in here ready to play.”

3. Will Duke wait until it’s down by double digits again before deciding it’s time to play?

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and star freshman Austin Rivers

The Blue Devils have fallen into the bad habit of waiting until they fall behind, sometimes by large margins, before finally deciding to start playing with passion and energy. It shouldn’t be an issue Sunday against an improving but still young and undermanned Boston College team, even on the road. But then, that’s probably what Florida State thought, too, when it visited Chestnut Hill recently. The atmosphere at Conte Forum figures to be docile at best, even with Duke in town, which means that coach Mike Krzyzewski’s team will need to manufacture its own motivation. It will be interesting to see how much of it the Blue Devils have left three days after working so hard to rally from a 20-point deficit in the final 11½ minutes against N.C. State.

4. Is Travis McKie ready to emerge as an elite ACC player?

Travis McKie was a game-changer against Georgia Tech

No one has ever doubted McKie’s ability. He was considered a four-star prospect with tremendous up-side coming out of high school and he’s showed flashes of that potential during his two seasons at Wake Forest. He currently ranks fifth in the ACC in scoring at 16.0 ppg, but Wednesday against Georgia Tech, the athletic 6-foot-7 forward showed how much more dominating he can be when he decides to assert himself. It’s not so much that he scored 23 points and grabbed 11 rebound. It’s how and when he did it. McKie took it upon himself to pick the Deacons up and carry them after Georgia Tech began the second half on an 11-0 run. He scored seven straight points to change the momentum and in the words of coach Jeff Bzdelik, “willed” his team to its first victory in a month. By doing so, he showed he can be a difference-maker. Now the question is can he start doing it on a consistent basis?

5. Does Miami have to win out in the regular season to earn an NCAA tournament bid?

Miami's imposing big man Reggie Johnson

At 15-9 and 6-5 in the ACC with an RPI of 45 and only three wins in 12 games against the top 100, the Hurricanes still have plenty of work to do to just to get onto the NCAA bubble. Even with a road upset of Duke and the extenuating circumstance of Reggie Johnson’s return from injury, coach Jim Larranaga’s team will probably have to win its five games to have a chance at getting into the field. Miami’s toughest remaining opponent is Florida State, and that game is at home. It also plays at Maryland and N.C. State at home against Boston College and this afternoon at home against Wake Forest. It’s certainly doable the way the Hurricanes have been playing of late. But in order to run the table, they can’s afford to slip up by looking past a Deacons team that hasn’t raised the white flag on its season despite a sub-.500 overall record.

That’s all for this week. Enjoy the games!

And don’t forget to follow my live updates from the N.C. State-Florida State game starting at 1 p.m. on Twitter @starnewsacc.